I have always associated this card with the element of Air/ Aquarius/ Uranus ( some other Tarot readers' references, can't find them now ).

But I looked again yesterday and what I found was a card replete with Solar imagery. In fact the first intuitive message I got was that this *was* the Sun Himself. The Sun journeys through the 12 signs of the zodiac and makes many major aspects with the various planets/ stars, etc. He's the Hero/ Trickster/ Initiate. The Sun ultimately represents *US* - our egos, personalities. It reflects the fact that the world *does* revolve around us and the magickal principle of 'As Above, So Below, As Within, so Without'. Now I don't mean to sound selfish by what I'm saying but what I'm trying to convey through 'the world revolves around us' is that our problems, fears, etc. though we think them overpowering and external are often external reflections of internal happenings, and totally under OUR control. And that 'reality' is something that can be easily affected by our will.

But to come back to the Fool Tarot card, I also immediately got the impression of Him being the ultimate Trickster. Loki, Hermes, Mercury or Dionysus even.

For me here was the Solar imagery in the RWS card:
*The prominent Sun in the sky
*The golden colour of the youth's hair
*The laurel wreath in his hair
*The Fool's golden yellow boots
*On His richly decorated garments are what I can describe as rayed solar bursts
*The colours yellow, orange and white on His garments
*Even the 'O' ( zero ) above the Fool's head, very similar to the astrological glyph for the Sun.

Now I don't mean to sound selfish by what I'm saying but what I'm trying to convey through 'the world revolves around us' is that our problems, fears, etc. though we think them overpowering and external are often external reflections of internal happenings, and totally under OUR control. And that 'reality' is something that can be easily affected by our will.

Yes, you're exactly right. It's very real - we perceive our world with ourselves always at its center, and the physical sense inevitably affects the emotional sense as well.

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But to come back to the Fool Tarot card, I also immediately got the impression of Him being the ultimate Trickster. Loki, Hermes, Mercury or Dionysus even.

Oh there's so much to explore there. Dionysus - the Son/Sun symbolism there (born of a virgin..., resurrected...) Jesus the holy fool - is the dog a metaphor for the sinner?

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For me here was the Solar imagery in the RWS card:
*The prominent Sun in the sky
*The golden colour of the youth's hair
*The laurel wreath in his hair
*The Fool's golden yellow boots
*On His richly decorated garments are what I can describe as rayed solar bursts
*The colours yellow, orange and white on His garments
*Even the 'O' ( zero ) above the Fool's head, very similar to the astrological glyph for the Sun.

Anyone else see these things or am I going crazy?

With the colouring and design of the card, the link is clearly deliberate. I'm reminded immediately of the Sun King, Louis XIV.
I suspect the traveler's cloth bag may be a variation or misrepresentation of fool's sceptre with a doll's head (sometimes an "inflated bladder" attached - perhaps to make a noise with?).

Some interesting ideas. If I could add my own two cents I'd like to suggest that the Fool is wearing a cap rather than a wreath. In this picture from a Pam-A (not a US Games or later clone), it looks like a green cap. This might symbolize something similar in nature to the Sun though, immortality, etc.

The Fool traditionally wears a cap, so it would make sense from that aspect. It looks like it could be made of leaves, possibly laurel, but that wouldn't seem to fit the rest of his clothing and accessories. He has a "costly" wand and Waite describes him as "prince." To me it looks like a nicely-made cap that shows his status, the opposite of that normally worn by the Fool.

Yes, you're exactly right. It's very real - we perceive our world with ourselves always at its center, and the physical sense inevitably affects the emotional sense as well.

I was reading this on the Sun in astrology and came across this ( http://www.astro.com/astrology/in_dg_sun_e.htm ):
"The Sun is depicted as a circle with a dot in the middle. A unity with a center as its focal point. There are possibly a trillion galaxies in the universe, each with a hundred billion Suns. Our universe is designed for many centers." Interesting, don't you think? While not totally negating others' sovereignities, we can accept and admit the existence of multiple 'suns' each with their own galaxy.

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Originally Posted by euripides

Oh there's so much to explore there. Dionysus - the Son/Sun symbolism there (born of a virgin..., resurrected...) Jesus the holy fool - is the dog a metaphor for the sinner?

With the colouring and design of the card, the link is clearly deliberate. I'm reminded immediately of the Sun King, Louis XIV.
I suspect the traveler's cloth bag may be a variation or misrepresentation of fool's sceptre with a doll's head (sometimes an "inflated bladder" attached - perhaps to make a noise with?).

I see the dog as the Lunar side of our nature ( the dog is present on the Moon card as well interestingly ), or our Shadow/ animal nature. You have a Divine and Animal nature, each interacting with each other.

Interesting that you mention Le Roi Soleil - I hadn't thought about that.

Also, in Abrac's close-up of the Fool's knapsack - is that a hawk stitched onto it?I remember reading in a book written by a member of an alchemical brotherhood that the author compared the Fool's staff and knapsack to the male genitalia and its reproductive powers.

He gave examples of older versions of the Fool card that showed the Fool carrying a stick that was flowering on the end and discussed the word play on the Latin name for the stick the Fool was carrying ( which sounded quite similar to 'virgin' ). There are even some versions of the Fool with Him half naked. Perhaps a nod to the Sun's masculine, regenerative energies as well as the Sun/Son and virgin birth themes. I can't find those pictures offhand but they are similar to the Visconti-Sforza's Fool (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fo...conti-fool.jpg). Interesting that Crowley's Thoth deck has a Sun over the Fool's genital area, as well as what appears to be grapes in the background....a nod to the Sun/son theme of both Dionysus and Jesus?

I'm not sure what that bird's supposed to be, Waite only says "over his right shoulder a wallet curiously embroidered." Personally I think it's an eagle. Looking at the enlarged image, notice the piercing "eagle eye" which can see into the hidden nature of things. This seems to fit Waite's description of the Fool in the Pictorial Key as "intelligent."

I can see how a person might see in the wallet and wand male genitalia; it seems to me an oversimplification though; and it limits the interpretation of the Fool in male terms. I see it as a symbol of the will, right now at least until something comes along and changes my mind.

Is the Fool the solar hero descending into the abyss ? For example in the Hanged Man we might see the solar hero immersed in the water like the mythological descent of the sun into the waters of chaos at sunset. In effect , the descent of Christ , the Logos into the chaos of creation .
If in Waite's FRC , the Fool represents Christ ( " the Wisdom of God is folly with men ") we may remember that the latter is called the Sun of Righteousness .

Some have seen the eye of Horus on the Fools wallet ( e.g. Case ) rather than an eagle , and Horus was a solar god and was assimilated to Christ by the early Egyptian Christians.( Origin , a famous early Christian derives his name from the Greek Orus gene or " born of Horus " )

For me the Fool is one of the most confusing in the RWS, and Waite says some things in his description that only add to the confusion (possibly intentionally).

Is he ascending or descending? It could almost be interpreted either way. It's numbered 0, which is a good case for placing it at the beginning, in which case he would be descending to begin his journey. But that's not where Waite has it in the order, and the symbolism is a better fit in the penultimate place.

In Waite's description, he says something interesting, "Many symbols of the Instituted Mysteries are summarized in this card, which reverses, under high warrants, all the confusions that have preceded it." His Fool is the opposite of virtually all Fools before it, the GD Fool possibly excepted. His Fool isn't a foolish simpleton, he has refinement; Waite even describes him as "intelligent." He's not wearing tattered or silly clothing but has a fine wardrobe which Waite describes as "gorgeous." He carries an expensive wand and bag, not a stick with a bundle tied to it. His dog isn't trying to take a piece out of his leg, but appears to be his obedient friend. He's in control, as opposed to the conventional Fool who is tossed about with the breeze. He has gone through trials and experiences, and has attained Wisdom. The Charioteer has gained some attainment into the things of mind and nature, but the Fool has attained the "great heights" of Spirit. The Fool's number 0 doesn't identify him as a "nobody," but represents the invisible things of Spirit.

From this point of view, solar symbolism seems especially appropriate, seen as Spiritual Light.